Twenty-three years ago this month, the chagrined commissioner of the Georgia Department of Transportation retired from his powerful state post after questions were raised about a family member’s 1986 purchase of land in the path of the newly designed, but un-built, Hwy. 316 in Barrow County.
Now, because of the family’s long-time neglect of that property, which is located across from the new Barrow Crossing retail center and on a corner of the planned interchange at Hwy. 81 south of Winder, the issue has resurfaced.
The old issue is of public interest now not only because of the poor condition of the property at a prime development spot in Barrow County, but also because Thomas D. Moreland’s engineering firm is a county contractor. Moreland-Altobelli & Associates Inc. recently was awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars in engineering work and is poised to earn another $1.6 million under a 2005 contract for more engineering work on the West Winder Bypass.
The Moreland trust’s property has been a source of many complaints from local residents over a period of years, according to Shannon Navarre Young, director of Keep Barrow Beautiful. Photo by Jessica Brown
Questions on Moreland land deal rise again
PROPERTY NEGLECTED
Despite his firm’s ongoing business relationship with Barrow County, Moreland’s family had resisted until last month the county’s request to clean up their property at the future interchange.
On Jan. 29, 2008, Shannon Navarre Young, director of Keep Barrow Beautiful, sent a certified letter to Moreland at his company’s headquarters.
“I have had numerous complaints about properties along the 316/81 corridor that our tax parcels state is your property,” Young wrote. “Specifically, the old house at 857 Loganville Highway is in deplorable shape and is covered in garbage. Your property on the North portion of Loganville Highway is also in need of drastic improvement to not only improve site conditions but (to) ensure our ‘gateway’ into Winder is more presentable.”
Young added: “In light of your ownership of this very visible property, I hope that you take this request to heart as soon as possible and help us take pride in our community.... Citizens moving into Barrow from other areas of Atlanta and the United States consistently express the same concern about how this county looks from litter to property maintenance….”
Moreland responded the following week in a Feb. 6, 2008 letter. He agreed to remove a log cabin he had purchased, but informed Young that he didn’t own the property.
“Please be advised that I am not the owner of any of that property,” he wrote.
Moreland 12 days later wrote Young a second letter informing her that he had removed the cabin and its debris.
“However, there is still some garbage lying around an old trailer park that is not my responsibility,” he wrote. “Hopefully, you can have the remainder of the property cleaned up.”
For more on this story, see the April 14 edition of the Barrow Journal.
Despite his firm’s ongoing business relationship with Barrow County, Moreland’s family had resisted until last month the county’s request to clean up their property at the future interchange.
This dilapidated house near the planned Hwy. 81 interchange on GA 316 is on property owned by a trust controlled by the family of former GDOT commissioner Thomas D. Moreland. This photograph shows the view of the property from the parking lot of the McDonald’s restaurant in the new Barrow Crossing retail center.Photo by Susan Norman
“I have had numerous complaints about properties along the 316/81 corridor that our tax parcels state is your property,” Young wrote. “Specifically, the old house at 857 Loganville Highway is in deplorable shape and is covered in garbage. Your property on the North portion of Loganville Highway is also in need of drastic improvement to not only improve site conditions but (to) ensure our ‘gateway’ into Winder is more presentable.”
Young added: “In light of your ownership of this very visible property, I hope that you take this request to heart as soon as possible and help us take pride in our community.... Citizens moving into Barrow from other areas of Atlanta and the United States consistently express the same concern about how this county looks from litter to property maintenance….”
Moreland responded the following week in a Feb. 6, 2008 letter. He agreed to remove a log cabin he had purchased, but informed Young that he didn’t own the property.
“Please be advised that I am not the owner of any of that property,” he wrote.
Moreland 12 days later wrote Young a second letter informing her that he had removed the cabin and its debris.
“However, there is still some garbage lying around an old trailer park that is not my responsibility,” he wrote. “Hopefully, you can have the remainder of the property cleaned up.”
For more on this story, see the April 14 edition of the Barrow Journal.
I read your story on Thursday and on Friday afternoon the eyesore was gone!